Revelations
by thatwritersdream
Summary: Lie after lie all comes crashing down in the echo caves for Emma Swan, and in order to release Neal from his cage she must reveal the darkest secret of all- the secret of her elder daughter.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my very first OUAT fanfiction story! I really hope you enjoy this story. Please forgive me if there are any OC moments, I'm still trying to impersonate this group of characters. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

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**Revelations**

**Prologue**

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_Sixteen year old Emma Swan cried out in agony as the pain in her abdomen worsened. The nurses had already given her the maximum amount of methanol that the doctor would let them, but still it didn't seem to have much effect on the withering blonde teenager. The numbing medication though seemed to have little effect on Emma, but was somewhat helpful. Contractions were getting worse, adding more pain each second. Emma knew the baby would be here any minute, and a part of her was excited but yet very terrified. _

_The blond sixteen year old was saturated in sweat, breathing labored and withering in pain on her hospital bed. A groan escaped her chapped lips when the doctor finally entered the hospital room. He was dressed in hospital scrubs, purple elastic gloves ready to deliver Emma's baby. Now Emma was impatient, she wanted the baby out and the pain to end._

"_Emma, when I say push, you need to give a push until told again. Understood?" The doctor asks, earning a wordless nod from Emma, who was waiting for the magical word. "One, two, three- push!"_

_With all her might, Emma pushed with a cry of pain. She felt as if she was being ripped apart. At this moment Emma regretted ever giving into her hormones, falling for that seductive smirk of a mysterious stranger- whom Emma never seen since that night. He left her with a nine month surprise. Now Emma didn't know how she was going to support herself and this baby, but she'd find a way. She would find a way somehow._

"_Again Emma!" The doctor demanded._

_With another screaming push, the wails of the baby echoed around the room. It was like time itself froze for Emma as relief spread through her body. She listened to the baby's cries, her baby's cries. A cry of joy left her own lips, one of a certain level of happiness. The doctor's cleared out then, wrapping the baby in a pink blanket and handing it over to Penny- the group home advisor._

"_It's a girl Emma." Penny says with a gentle smile. "Would you like to hold her before she goes up for adoption."_

"_Adoption?" Emma asks, genuinely surprised. That had never been a part of her plan; Emma never wanted to give her baby up- to give her the life she had. She didn't want her baby to feel unwanted or unloved._

"_You don't honestly think you can raise a baby do you?" Penny asked in disbelief. "You're sixteen Emma; you can't even take care of yourself. How can you take care of your daughter?"_

"_I can get a job!" Emma argues._

"_What about your education?" Penny presses, handing over the pink bundle to Emma carefully. "Even if you got a job Emma, do you want to raise her in a group home? The thing about being a mother is thinking of your child first. You are not mother material sweetie, not yet at least. Give your baby girl a fighting chance, do what's best for her."_

_With that Penny left Emma alone, holding her baby girl in her arms. The blond teenager looked down at the baby whose eyes were closed shut. Tears formed in Emma's eyes, the little angel in her arms was perfect. It hurt Emma to admit it, but Penny was right. She deserved a life with a family that could provide for her, not some teenager who had no life experience besides group homes and stealing. The decision was made._

"_I want you to have the best baby girl." Emma whispered, staring at the baby's face in adoration. "I want you to have what I didn't. A home. A family. Someone to tell you they love you every day. So please forgive me for doing this."_

_Emma told the doctor that she'd ne giving up the baby for adoption when he came to check up on them. The doctor himself didn't seem all that surprised by her decision. Emma guess that it was inevitable that she'd give her baby girl up for adoption, being as the situation was already._

"_Would you at least like to name her Emma?" The doctor asks._

_Emma smiled sadly, "Yes." Emma whispered, kissing the baby's forehead. "Claire. Her name is Claire."_

_Then Emma watched as Claire was whisked away into the hospital hallways._

**X**

**X**

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Emma listened to everyone's deepest secrets. The one that hurt the most was Mary Margret's, it kind of made Emma feel as if it were her fault that her mother missed out on her life, but in all reality- it wasn't. Regina had put a curse in the Enchanted Forest causing all its residents to get transported into Storybrooke with no prior memories of who they once were. Living frozen in time for twenty eight years until Henry Mills retrieved his biological mother- the savior, from Boston.

In the end, Emma broke the curse when Henry's life was hanging by the threads. Now Henry was being held captive in Neverland by Peter Pan, and Neal was trapped in a cage in the Echo Caves. The only way to free him was to speak your darkest secret. Mary Margret, Killian, and David had already told their secrets, and now all that was left was Emma's. Her secret would set Neal free and then they could all go get Henry.

Without waiting any longer, Emma ran across the pillars towards Neal's enchanted wooden cage. Kneeling to look at Neal eye leveled, inspecting the cage in a way from inside as well.

"You okay?" Emma asks Neal.

"Yeah, but Henry- I"

"It's okay; we'll take care of him. Let's get you out of there first."

Emma stood up; trying to hack at it with his sword Killian had given her when they all believe Neal was dead. Neal watched, confused for a second to what it was Emma was trying to achieve. Then he realized.

"Emma? EMMA!" Neal shouted when he couldn't get the blonde's attention. Then she stopped her hacking and looked down at him. "You know that's not how this works."

Emma looked down, breathing heavily. She looks as if she's trying to decide wither or not to speak, so she kneels back down. Her gaze meet's Neal's, and he instantly sooths her. Trying to calm the nerves he saw dancing behind her eyes. Emma was nervous, she was unsure.

"You can tell me anything." Neal reassured, giving Emma a reassuring smile.

"When I heard you might be here, that you might still be alive- I knew I should be happy, but I wasn't. I was terrified. I didn't understand why until now. From the moment I saw you in New York, the instant you stepped back into my life- I knew, I knew I never stopped loving you." Emma admitted to Neal, giving him a semi-forced smile. One that Neal returned.

"Before I had a chance to take a breath, I lost you once more. And all that pain that I pushed down all those years came rushing back. I didn't know if I could go through it again." Emma trailed off at the end. "I love you I probably always will, but my secret is that I was hoping that this was a trick. I was hoping that you were dead, because it would be easier to put you behind me, than to face the pain we went through all over again."

Emma had tears in her eyes when she finished. Neal was staring at her with this look of sadness in his eyes. She felt guilty for admitting that out loud, but it was her darkest secret. To wish someone was dead because it was easier to face life that way? It was selfish to think that way, but Emma had and she felt the need to take back all that she said. One thing that wasn't easy to admit was that she still loved Neal, because Emma hadn't been sure until now. Until she thought she'd really lost him once and for all.

"Why isn't working?" Neal asks, peering at the three people who came up behind Emma.

"It should have worked." Killian mutters more to himself, thinking.

Mary Margret shook her head, "I don't understand. Emma revealed her secret, why didn't it set Neal free?"

"Aye, that may be the problem." Killian says. "Emma revealed _a_ secret. Not her _darkest _secret."

Emma stood up, "That was my darkest secret! What can you expect me to do?"

Killian shook his head, "Emma, darkest secrets have to hold a meaning behind them. You just admitted love and you wished Neal was dead so it would be easier. Think harder, what do you have buried deep down inside your mind that you tell absolutely no one? The one thing you've kept hidden to yourself?"

Emma sighed, shoulders slumping, "Henry isn't an only child. He has an older sister."

Silence.

"You have a daughter that you didn't tell anyone about?" Mary Margret asked, hurt in her voice.

"I had her when I was sixteen. At the time I was in a group home, and I wanted to keep her. I wanted to raise her and be her mother, but I was told otherwise. I didn't know exactly what I gotten myself into. The moment she was born, the moment I held her- I loved her. But then I realized, I couldn't be a mother the way I was living. I was told the same thing, I wasn't mother material." Emma looks up at her very own parents.

"I believed those words. I believed that she had a better chance with another family. I believed that I was an unfit mother. When Henry was born, I couldn't hold him. I couldn't hold another child and know I would never be able to raise them. That's why I gave Henry up, due to the fact of past experience."

The cage that held Neal suddenly disappeared. As soon as he was out, Emma was walking out of the Echo Caves- needing some air to breath. She needed to be alone for now, and David knew this. When Mary Margret went to go after Emma, David stopped her.

"She needs a little space Snow. Give her some time and I'm sure she'll tell you more about our granddaughter."

Somehow, Mary Margret wasn't so sure about that.

**X**

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**A/n**

**This is my first OUAT fanfiction and I hope so far it's good. I won't be going too far into Neverland. Maybe the next chapter or two, but not that long. I'm really excited to write this story, so please leave a review of your thoughts. Thank you for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for the love for this story, sorry for the long wait! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and fall in love with this story. I know I'm a slow at updates, so I won't bore you all with this authors note. I hope you enjoy!**

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**Revelations**

**Chapter One**

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_Flower, gleam and glow  
Let your power shine  
Make the clock reverse  
Bring back what once was mine_

Claire Conway sang softly as she stared at the grave in front of her. Her blonde hair in a braid and tears in her eyes. They said it would get easier, but it never did. The feeling of loss and heartache never ceased to leave Claire, no matter how many times she tried to escape it. It's already been two weeks, and the pain of her mother's departure was still burning fresh. How did people ever get over the deaths of their loved ones? It seemed impossible to move past the pain, the lingering depression in the heart. It was hard, so it made Claire wonder how the hell people did it and how she could do it. She wanted to know the tricks of leaving the pain behind.

Claire's hand lifted to her blond braid, the hair her mother loved so much. Tears welled her eyes. She wanted out of this pain. She was alone, so alone. Her mother didn't have any family, no brothers or sister or even cousins. No one could take in Claire. She had no one but herself and the world, and it was difficult. She was almost seventeen now, and Claire wasn't ready to live on her own, but now she didn't have a choice. Not until social workers came to take her away because apparently she was adopted, but Claire had done a good job avoiding those social workers. That was the last place she wanted to go, into a system. Claire heard rumors about being a foster kid, and it wasn't the best things. Some stories made her sad, mostly because people who foster or adopt wanted a baby, not a nearly seventeen year old.

In a way she ignored the information about her being adopted because right now that didn't matter to her. What did matter was that her mother, the women who raised her- was dead. What the hell would Claire do now to live? The teenager had no clue but she was willing to try to live differently- to leave and start fresh. Yeah, that seemed more promising than staying here and being put into a system.

"Pascal, stop it boy." Claire sighed, glancing at the black and white dog that whined looking up at her. He gave her sad eyes before getting up and nudging her to get up as well. Claire didn't listen to him, just petted him gently as she stared off into space.

Her thoughts were jumbled, ignoring all the signs that normal told her to leave the premises. Claire paid no mind though, just slipping in and out of mind- staring at nothing in particular. Her mother would have wanted her to try, to do better. That much Claire knew, but how could she go on without the motivation of her mother.

"Claire, what the hell are you still doing here?"

"I can't go home." Claire answered, glancing up at the red head male who watched her in concern.

"Please Claire, go home. You need to rest."

"Shane, if I go home I will break. There's to many memories of her there." Claire's blue eyes welled up. "I'm not ready to go home yet, because if I do they'll take me away."

Shane smiled sadly, "No one will take you away, not when I'm around. When was the last time you've even eaten? Or took a shower?"

"Don't know." Claire shrugged lazily.

Sighing, Shane reached out, grasping Claire's arm gently and holstering her up. "Come on, you are coming home with me, showering and eating."

Sighed Claire nodded, calling for Pascal and moving to walk, only to stumbled forward. Quickly Shane picked her back up, not setting her back down. He frowned, realizing how light Claire had become and knew she wasn't taking care of herself. Sighing, he shook his head.

"You need to take better care of yourself, but until your ready- I'll take care of you." Shane said, holding her tightly to his chest as he walked, afraid she'd slip out of his grasp.

Claire smiled thinly. "Thank you Wonder Boy."

―――

**Enchanted Forest~ Twenty Eight Years Ago**

_Gothel sighed as she watched the scenery outside her tower unhappily. True her unhappiness was her own doing, that's what happened when you were a villain. People tended to dislike you, hate you even, but she done horrid things. Sure she wasn't as bad as the Evil Queen, or Rumpelstiltskin- but she also wasn't any better. She wanted a life that was different, because this was not one she wanted. Of course she was once happy, married to Prince of a distant land, and once even with a child- but she lost it all when she begun magic._

_Magic always has a price they warned her, but Gothel never listened. She soon became to consumed with magic, with the power to control. She was hungry for more, and that hunger took over her mind. It changed her morals, which she was at heart into something monstrous. Once even placing a curse that turned her beloved into a frog, and only a true love kiss could turn him back to normal. When realizing what had happened, Gothel tried to restore him to his human form. Only she couldn't, and Naveen got a happy ending with another named Tiana. She lost her happy end, and her child. _

_Magic always came with a price._

_Still she never listened, and continued down her dark path. She had been for years now, only twenty seven years old. She was as wicked as a witch came, cursing people who were happy to make herself feel better, but they always found a way to happiness. Villains never get a happy ending, that's how it was for as long as heroes were around. Villains were meant to be unhappy. Now all Gothel wanted was to be happy, and for that she needed to find happiness- to make a deal._

"_Rumpelstiltskin, Rumpelstiltskin, Rumpelstiltskin." Gothel chanted, and not even seconds later did a giggles fill the room._

"_What can I do for you Dearie?" Rumpelstiltskin grins._

_Gothel took in a deep breath, "I want to be happy."_

"_What can I possibly do to make that happen? You'll need to more specific Dearie."_

"_I want a child." Gothel says, not looking away from the man in front of her. "I cannot have my own, so I'm willing to do anything."_

"_Aaliyah, you are a villain. A child will not help the darkness in your heart- you paid that price." Rumpel frowns. "I know personally that we villains drive our children away."_

"_My name is Gothel, I am not Aaliyah anymore." Gothel said stubbornly. "You don't see to understand Rumple. I cannot bare my own child, and no one will willingly give their child to me."_

_Rumpel giggled. "Not that I blame them. I wouldn't give you my child either."_

"_Please Rumple. I will do anything." Gothel begged, the desperation of longing in her eyes. This made Rumpel grin wider._

"_Magic always has a price Dearie. Are you willing to pay it?"_

_Gothel nods, "Yes, I am willing."_

"_I require the magic golden flower, and in return you will have a child." Rumpel says, then holds up a finger when Gothel smiles. "But this comes with a price. The child will not be born for a while, it will be when a change comes- and then you will be the mother you want to be."_

"_The magic golden flower- when do you want it?" Gothel questions._

"_I expect it in no less than a year. That is your time limit." Rumpel says, making a contract appear. "Do we have a deal Gothel?"_

"_Of course." Gothel says, signing away her name. "Pleasure doing business with you."_

"_Don't say that quite yet." Rumpel says, disappearing._

―――

"Emma." Mary-Margret called to her daughter who sat on a rock in deep thought. Mary-Margret frowned, watching Emma in silence. It worried Mary-Margret that Emma was so silent, thinking so intently that the mother of the blonde just wanted to know what her daughter was thinking in that moment. "Emma, talk to me."

"There's nothing to say." Emma says suddenly, ignoring the fact that David, Hook, and Neal had now come into hearing distance.

"Of course there is Emma. You just admitted you have a daughter." Mary-Margret says, coming closer to the blonde.

"I _had _a daughter. Then I gave her up." Emma said it so nonchalantly that it caused Mary-Margret's frown to deepen.

"You're bottling it up Emma. If we are going to save Henry then you need to clear your mind. You're not thinking straight Emma." Mary-Margret sat next to Emma, gently gripping her hand. "You can talk to me Emma, I'm your mother. Let me in."

Emma's eyes gave away no emotion, but it was easily readable that the blonde was having an internal battle with herself. She was torn between talking and keeping everything bottled. Emma didn't want to admit everything out loud; because once she did then all her years of pain will come pouring out. It was bad with Neal, and it hurt so much to admit what she did in the Echo Caves, but this would be worse. Talking about her daughter would hurt that much more, because she knew her son for a year now- but never tried to look for her baby girl once.

"Emma. Please." Mary-Margret whispered.

"I gave her up. I held her once and then gave her away without a second thought. I believed I was doing what was best for her, but really it what was best for me. She would have never had a chance with me, so I gave her away. She was the most beautiful baby girl, with the brightest blonde hair and the greenest pair of eyes you'd ever seen. Her giggle was so heartwarming that it made you fall in love with her." Emma smiled sadly, gripping her mother's hand.

"I wanted to raise her, but I couldn't support her at that age. I had no clue what the hell I was doing." Emma paused, taking in a breath. "I regret it. I regret leaving her in another's care, to be raised by another women. I wish I could go back in time, hold her close, and raise her as my own. I want my baby girl back more than anything, but by now she isn't my little girl anymore."

Mary-Margret shook her head, "That's where you're wrong Emma. She will _always _be your baby girl just like how you'll always be my baby girl despite your age. She will be yours no matter what; no one can take that away from you, because she will always be your daughter."

Emma blinked her tears, "She won't feel that way. I don't know what kind of life she has had. She's a teenager now, even if she did or didn't know she was adopted, I'll always be the women who didn't want her- who gave her up."

"You did that with Henry, and now look at your relationship with your son Emma. She'll know why you did what you did once you talk to her, and once she sees that you wanted to give her her best chance, she'll give you a chance." Mary-Margret smiled. "Trust me Emma, it all takes times."

Emma nodded giving a weak sigh, "Right now we have to focus on getting Henry back from Pan and then getting off this damn island."

"Then you'll look for her?" Mary-Margret asked a bit to hopefully.

David then came forward, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder and offering his daughter an encouraging smile. His heart went out to his daughter, and he wish he could go with her to find his granddaughter, but he couldn't. He was stuck on this island, and new Mary-Margret would stay on this island with him. She wouldn't go with their daughter to search for her long lost granddaughter because she was loyal to her marriage, but he wanted her to go with Emma. This would be a fight for a later time, but David was determined to get Mary-Margret to go with Emma after they rescued Henry, and get them all off this island.

"Is it bad that I'm curious about who her father is?" Killian wondered out loud, earning sharp glares from everyone but Emma, who glanced down.

"It's a little hazy." Emma admitted out loud. "A blur really."

"You blacked out?" Mary-Margret's concern and worry was loud and clear.

Emma nodded grimly. "Can we just find Henry and get off this island before we try to piece back my past?"

"Of course." Mary-Margret answered, standing up with Emma- searching for a direction to look for Henry next on Neverland.

―――

"_Claire. Baby girl wake up." _

_Claire sighed in her sleep, eyes staying closed until a hand brushed her hair- causing the blonde to peel her eyes open. Kneeling in front of her was her mother, smiling as brightly as any other day. Claire smiled back, humming lightly and turning over- blocking the light from her eyes. Aaliyah laughed at her daughter, sitting beside her and brushing her hair once again._

"_Claire I need to talk to you, about something important." Aaliyah said softly, earning a curious glance from the teenager lying next to her._

"_About what mom?" Claire asked, moving up into a sitting position._

_Aaliyah smiled forcefully, something Claire noticed. Taking her mother's hand gently, Claire urged her mother to go on with her news, feeling a sense of dread in her stomach. Something was wrong, and Claire wanted to know. Nothing bad never happened, no one died in their family because no one was in their family. They only had each other, including the one friend Claire had been able to make. She was horrible at making friends, especially female friends. _

"_I went to the doctor's Claire." Aaliyah gripped Claire's hand gently but tightly. "I was diagnosed with lung cancer Claire, and it doesn't look very good."_

_Claire's eyes watered up, and she felt like her world was crashing down around her. Suddenly Aaliyah had her daughter in a tight embraced, calming her weeping cries. Aaliyah put her head onto Claire's shushing her, rocking her back and forth like she did as an infant. Aaliyah closed her own eyes with tears, whispering soothing words, knowing how hard this would be for Claire, a girl who never experienced death. She wasn't ready to handle life on her own._

"_You're going to be alright right?" Claire asked, tightening her hold. "Please don't leave me mom."_

_Aaliyah kissed Claire's forehead, "I'll always be with you Claire, no matter what."_

_Claire cried harder with those words, shaking her head vigorously. "You sound like you're giving up. You have to try to live."_

"_Oh baby girl." Aaliyah whispered gently. "Everything happens for a reason. Wither it be for the greater good or the worse, it all happens for a reason. Promise me if I don't make it, you'll live for me Claire. You need to live for me and promise me you'll find a drive."_

"_I can't promise that." Claire cried, looking up at her mother. "I can't lose you. Who'll help me with my school work, who'll help me make choices in my outfits? Who'll help me cook?"_

_Aaliyah smiled, "Sweetheart, there is so much more to this life that you don't even know. You just have to discover who you really are and the power you have within yourself, and once you do baby girl- the world will be a whole new place. It's just up to you on how you decided to wield that power, but always let it be for the greater good, because it's always hard to find your happy ending."_

"_This isn't a fairy tale mom." Claire sniffled. "You are supposed to be there with me mom."_

_Aaliyah brushed Claire's hair to the side, "Sometimes you'll lose some before you gain some. Claire, you'll be okay- I won't be gone for a while, but I need you to know you'll be okay with or without me. So promise me you'll live, you'll finish school, fall in love, and find who you really are."_

_Claire sniffled and nodded, "I promise."_

Claire jerked awake with tears streaming down her face, holding her hand to her heart. She felt a dull pain, a sharp pain that caused her to gasp. Claire took in a deep breath, trying to catch it. The pain felt so real, and she realized it was all in her head. The nightmares were reoccurring now, every time she fell asleep she relived those hard memories- those painful memories with her mother. She didn't want to feel, she didn't want to know, but it was even worse finding out that her mother wasn't even her real mother. She wasn't wanted by her biological mother, and the one who wanted her was dead. It left her wondering who the women who gave birth to her was, what she was like- but then she felt rage. She was mad, she was upset. She hated the world and everyone in it.

Life wasn't fair. Claire didn't do anything wrong, she tried so hard to succeed. She was a good student, good grades, and good kid that had a future. Her mother prepared her for life, a life she was prepared to live with but never once did she imagine that life or future without her mother. Of course she still had Shane, but one day he'd meet a girl, and he'd fall in love. Then who would Claire actually have before her dog died? No one, because she wasn't a people person. She had no social skill. She was lost, and she wanted out.

"Take me far away to a land where I can forget." Claire whispered, looking up at her ceiling in Shane's apartment.

Shane had brought her into his home, took care of her health and got her to shower. She even let her borrow a shirt, given her a bed to sleep in. He was her care taker, and Claire was grateful to have him but she wasn't his responsibility. He didn't need to take care of her when he had his own life to live, and that made Claire feel guilty. She was taking his time away from him. Suddenly Pascal got up from besides her, growling at the window. Claire didn't think much of it, petting her guard dog and loyal companion to calm down, not even aware of the shadow lingering by the window.

"Claire, I finally found you."

Claire sat up at the voice, looking around the room silently looking for the voice. She spotted no one, causing her to knit her eyebrows together in confusion. She was going crazy, which was the best explanation about what was going on. She was finally losing the little but of sanity she had managed to hold on tightly to, but it wasn't enough. Not when the window blew open and a shadow flew in. Pascal growled more loud, warning and he crouched protectively in front of Claire, who was denying what was in front of her in playing sight. She wasn't able to comprehend what she was seeing exactly.

"Who are you?" Claire asked, scrambling to her feet as the shadow came closer.

It never answered her, but it held out her hand. Something told her to take the shadow's hand, but another thing told her to run as far as she could, so she did. She listened to that other little voice, running towards the door, but she never made it as everything around her turned into a sea of darkness. Distantly feeling herself being lifted into the air

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**Here we go, chapter two! Sorry it's short, but the next chapter will defiantly be longer. I will start on the storyline that follows the show, but with plot twists. I really hope you liked this chapter and will leave review. Like who can figure out who Claire's father can possibly be, and her storyline. I hope that you'll leave a review on your thoughts!**

**Thank you all again for reading this story!**


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